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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> Candid II – Did I do wrong? Comments Please
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Showing posts 1 - 16 of 16, (reverse)
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 01/10/2005 07:12:06 AM · #1
I had a few comments ranging from boarder distracting, looks posed, over sharpened and to deep of DOF, and my cropping. All comments were valid and welcomed and I have learned from them so thank you to the users that left a comment. I wanted to post the original [non-cropped] version in B&W and Color.
What I would like to know is if this picture just didn̢۪t have what it needed to score higher or what I did wrong? I̢۪m not complaining about my score and accept responsibility of anything lacking within the picture. I just would like some input. Thank you in advance.

Submitted File


Original B&W


Original Color


01/10/2005 07:21:27 AM · #2
The uncropped black and white is the most effective as it gives more of a sense of being alone that I feel is what the subject feels. The bright color of his shirt is distracing in the color one so I this one would have done better. I gave your original a 6.

Lee
 01/10/2005 07:34:53 AM · #3
I have to say that many of the entries into this challenge were posed! Don´t take that seriously. From the uncropped images I would have loved to see more water, it was gorgeous! Why did you take that out? I would have voted hmmmm 7 but then I wasn´t allowed to vote, so there :) all good wishes to you.
 01/10/2005 09:18:17 AM · #4
There are a lot of things about your photo that I didn't notice. I didn't see the border, or the water. To be honest I didn't register much of the "scene" at all.

What I did see was a man in distress, which is precisely what you wanted me to see. That makes it a very powerful image in my opinion.

Looking at your originals, I think that you made the correct decision regarding the crop and rendition although there may be a little too much of his torso on the left of the image ?

This is another one of your photos that goes beyond the "look what I can do with my camera" style of photography and into the " this is what I see and this is how I feel about it" aspect.



Keep telling us your stories Scott.
 01/10/2005 09:28:16 AM · #5
There are two things that stand out to me which may have impacted your scoring. One is the images softness. I'm not sure if its motion blur (you mentioned full telephoto, so motion blur is probable) or an out of focus issue. The other challenge is that the tones are very close throughout the subject area. The man is not contrasted from his background significantly. In fact, at a quick glance, his hair blends very much with the lighting on the water.

Always thing about what is making you take that picture, and how you are emphasizing it in relation to the surrounding elements. For candids, you don't play with lighting equipment or ask someone to move, so your options are limited to moving yourself. Woudl have been a challenge in this case because your only other choices would be a front-lit butt shot, or a back lit head shot.

I think you had a good idea, but very a difficult technical scenario to pull off ribbon class candid.
 01/10/2005 09:54:20 AM · #6
I want to take a moment to thank everyone that has commented in this thread. I plan to learn from your comments and my mistakes. Thank you again.
Scott W.
 01/10/2005 12:07:10 PM · #7
I was just playing around with your photo a bit, I'm no pro with photo shop. Just learning the basics. But I like your second shot better, I rotated it 1 degree to the right leveling the far shore line a bit. Even tho the dock is out, thats just the way it looks. Anyways I darken the shadows some And change the color to off dark green color. Then played around with the exposure. Then took it to neat image and just sharpened it.

01/10/2005 12:16:02 PM · #8
Originally posted by Spurs:
I was just playing around with your photo a bit, I'm no pro with photo shop. Just learning the basics. But I like your second shot better, I rotated it 1 degree to the right leveling the far shore line a bit. Even tho the dock is out, thats just the way it looks. Anyways I darken the shadows some And change the color to off dark green color. Then played around with the exposure. Then took it to neat image and just sharpened it.



That does look better, thank you!
 01/10/2005 01:02:16 PM · #9
One thing jumps out at me - your entry is WAY oversharpened.
I might have tried a different feeling - perhaps the subject resting his chin on his hands ad staring out into the lake contemplatively.

looks the winners were more upbeat in mood and showed more action or interaction with others.
01/10/2005 01:10:53 PM · #10
One thing that worked to your disadvantage was that it was not clear from the photo whether it was posed or actually a candid. It seemed posed to me, so I voted it a 7.
 01/10/2005 02:24:28 PM · #11
Originally posted by Fibonacci:


This is another one of your photos that goes beyond the "look what I can do with my camera" style of photography and into the " this is what I see and this is how I feel about it" aspect.



Keep telling us your stories Scott.


Wow - how perfectly and beautifully stated. I second that and hope I can do more of the same type of work myself someday. Scott's work has power long after the initial viewing.
 01/10/2005 02:30:59 PM · #12
The uncropped version could use some more thought into the composition, it's got nice tones but looks more snap-shot-ish because of what you included in the shot. IMO anyway.

P.S. the submitted one is good but a bit too sharp.

Message edited by author 2005-01-10 14:32:22.
 01/10/2005 03:29:39 PM · #13
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
One thing jumps out at me - your entry is WAY oversharpened.
I might have tried a different feeling - perhaps the subject resting his chin on his hands ad staring out into the lake contemplatively.

looks the winners were more upbeat in mood and showed more action or interaction with others.


Since it was a candid shot and especially since the man seems to be in a state of distraught, I could not pose him. Yes the winners were upbeat but sometime life is not all about being up. We have to see the downs to appreciate the ups. Someone told me once, "How can you feel happiness if you have never see sorrow."
 01/10/2005 03:32:09 PM · #14
Originally posted by Fibonacci:
There are a lot of things about your photo that I didn't notice. I didn't see the border, or the water. To be honest I didn't register much of the "scene" at all.

What I did see was a man in distress, which is precisely what you wanted me to see. That makes it a very powerful image in my opinion.

Looking at your originals, I think that you made the correct decision regarding the crop and rendition although there may be a little too much of his torso on the left of the image ?

This is another one of your photos that goes beyond the "look what I can do with my camera" style of photography and into the " this is what I see and this is how I feel about it" aspect.



Keep telling us your stories Scott.


Thank you for your post very up-lifting.
 01/10/2005 03:34:07 PM · #15
Again I thank everyone for the comments / critiques and complements. It's great to have a site where we can share our take on a subject. Thanks to all of you.
 01/10/2005 03:46:02 PM · #16
Your submitted photo was not effectively post processed imo... Im just guessing here but it looks like you over did the high pass sharpening, but reduced the contrast and selectively applied usm to certain areas.
Also you dont utilize the whole range of black and white tones.

Looking at the original it doesnt have these added post processing problems, personally I like the closer crop but maybe not that close.

Best of luck
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